Legends of Opera

Rudolf Schock

Although he almost fell into the category of heldentenor he had a warm dark timbre to his voice which was almost baritonal.

He also had a strong top voice which put him into the heroic tenor class.
Tall and good looking he made several German films including a highly successful film on the life of Richard Tauber- which made him almost a superstar of his day.

He was not known for being much of an actor however, but with over three million records to his credit and being one of the first German's to sing at the Royal Opera in 1949 his fame was assured.

His roles included Rudolfo, Alfredo, Pinkerton, Tamino, Idomeneo and others. He also sang at the Salzburg Festival and took a role in the premiere of Rolf Liebermann's, Penelope and also the Vienna State Opera's first staging of Albab Bergs Lulu. Aside from Puccini roles he was an impressive Paul in Korngold's Die Tote Stadt.

Rudolf Schock made repeated visits to the Edinburgh International Festival and he also sang Walther at Bayreuth in 1959.

He continued to appear at concerts into his sixties and died suddenly of a heart attack aged 71.